Memory system and method using a memory device die stacked with a logic die using data encoding, and system using the memory system

ABSTRACT

A memory system and method using at least one memory device die stacked with and coupled to a logic die by interconnects, such as through silicon vias. One such logic die includes an ECC system generating error checking and correcting (“ECC) bits corresponding to write data. The write data are transmitted to the memory device dice in a packet containing a serial burst of a plurality of parallel data bits. The ECC bits are transmitted to the memory device dice using through silicon vias that are different from the vias through which data are coupled. Such a logic die could also include a data bus inversion (“DBI”) system encoding the write data using a DBI algorithm and transmitting to the memory device dice DBI bits indicating whether the write data have been inverted. The DBI bits are transmitted using through silicon vias that are shared with the ECC bits when they are unused for transferring the ECC bits.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/192,796, filed Aug. 15, 2008. This application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to memory devices, and, more particularly, in one or more embodiments to a memory system having a plurality of stacked memory device dice connected to a logic die in which data are coupled between the logic die and the memory device dice using data bus inversion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As memory devices of all types have evolved, continuous strides have been made in improving their performance in a variety of respects. For example, the storage capacity of memory devices has continued to increase at geometric proportions. This increased capacity, coupled with the geometrically higher operating speeds of electronic systems containing memory devices, has made high memory device bandwidth ever more critical. One application in which memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) devices, require a higher bandwidth is their use as system memory in computer systems. As the operating speed of processors has increased, processors are able to read and write data at correspondingly higher speeds. Yet conventional DRAM devices often do not have the bandwidth to read and write data at these higher speeds, thereby slowing the performance of conventional computer systems. This problem is exacerbated by the trend toward multi-core processors and multiple processor computer systems. It is currently estimated that computer systems operating as high-end servers are idle as many as 3 out of every 4 clock cycles because of the limited data bandwidth of system memory devices. In fact, the limited bandwidth of DRAM devices operating as system memory can reduce the performance of computer systems to as low as 10% of the performance of which they would otherwise be capable.

Various attempts have been made to increase the data bandwidth of memory devices. For example, wider internal data buses have been used to transfer data to and from arrays with a higher bandwidth. However, doing so usually requires that write data be serialized and read data deserialized at the memory device interface. Another approach has been to simply scale up the size of memory devices or conversely shrink their feature sizes, but, for a variety of reasons, scaling has been incapable of keeping up with the geometric increase in the demand for higher data bandwidths. Proposals have also been made to stack several integrated circuit memory device dice in the same package.

Several other issues often arise in the design and use of memory devices. One of these issues is power consumption. In some applications, such as in portable electronic devices, power consumption is very important because it can seriously reduce the operating time of battery powered devices such as laptop computers. Minimizing power consumption is important even for electronic devices that are not battery powered because reducing power reduces the heat generated by the memory devices.

Another issue that often arises is the inadvertent loss of data stored in memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) devices. DRAM devices need to be periodically refreshed to avoid loosing data. If DRAM devices are not refreshed frequently enough, data retention errors can occur. Unfortunately, refresh consumes a substantial amount of power, thus making it desirable to minimize the frequency of refreshes. As a result of this trade-off between power consumption and minimizing data errors, DRAM devices are often refreshed near the rate at which data retention errors can occur. Data retention errors can also occur in other types of memory devices, such as flash memory devices, for different reasons. The time duration before which data retention errors become an issue can be extended by generating an error correcting code (“ECC”) for each item of write data, and storing the ECC in the memory device with the write data. When the data are read, the ECC is read along with the read data and used to determine if a data retention error has occurred, and, if so, the ECC can often be used to correct the error.

Still another issue that often arises in the design of memory devices is minimizing the signal connections to the die of the memory device. The area used by bond wire consumes space on the die that could be used for fabricating transistors to increase the capacity of the memory device. The same problem also exists for the area consumed on a memory device die by through silicon vias (“TSVs”) connected to stacked memory devices.

As mentioned above, proposals have been made to increase the bandwidth of a memory device by stacking several integrated circuit memory device dice in the same package. Although doing so does to some extent alleviate the problem of limited bandwidth, it can exacerbate the other problems discussed above, including power consumption and consuming excessive die area with TSVs, particularly if ECC techniques are to be used to correct data retention errors.

Therefore, a need exists for a method and system to stack memory device dice in a manner that maximizes the area of a die available for memory capacity, does not unduly increase the number of required terminals, and does not substantially increase power consumption.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a processor-based system that includes a memory system containing stacked memory device dice according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a logic die used in the memory system of FIG. 1 showing the connections to the logic die.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of an embodiment of the processor-based system of FIG. 1 showing the memory system in greater detail.

FIG. 4 is a table showing an embodiment of a write and read data packet coupled to and from, respectively, each of the memory device dice.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a data transmitter and receiver that may be used in the memory system of FIGS. 1-3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A computer system including a high-capacity, high bandwidth memory system 10 according to an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 1. The memory system 10 is connected to a memory access device, such as a processor 12 through a relatively narrow high-speed bus 14 that is divided into downstream lanes and separate upstream lanes (not shown in FIG. 1). The memory system 10 includes 4 DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26, which may be identical to each other, stacked on top of each other. Although the memory system 10 includes 4 DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26, other embodiments of the memory device use a greater or lesser number of DRAM dice. The stacked DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 are connected to a logic die 30, which serves as the interface with the processor 12. The logic die 30 can be physically positioned relative to DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 in any order, such as by stacking the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 on top of the logic die 30. However, the logic die 30 could, for example, be positioned in the middle of the stack of DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26.

The logic die 30 can implement a variety of functions in the memory system 10, such as to limit the number of functions that must be implemented in the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26. For example, the logic die 30 may perform memory management functions, such as power management and refresh of memory cells in the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, the logic die 30 performs error checking and correcting (“ECC”) functions. In the embodiments described herein, the logic die 30 uses data encoding , e.g., bus inversion, techniques for data transmitted to and received from the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26, as described in greater detail below.

The DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 may be connected to each other and they are connected to the logic die 30 by a relatively wide bus 34. The bus 34 may be implemented with interconnects, such as through silicon vias (“TSVs”), which comprise a number of conductors extending at least partially through the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 at the same locations on the DRAM dice and connect to respective conductors formed on and/or in the dice 20, 22, 24, 26. In one embodiment, each of the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 are divided into 16 autonomous partitions, each of which may contain 2 or 4 independent memory banks. In such case, the partitions of each dice 20, 22, 24, 26 that are stacked on top of each other may be independently accessed for read and write operations. Each set of 16 stacked partitions may be referred to as a “vault.” Thus, the memory system 10 may contain 16 vaults.

As shown in FIG. 2 and as explained in greater detail below, one of the functions performed by the logic die 30 is to deserialize 16 serial data bits coupled through one of the 16-bit downstream lanes 40 a-d of the bus 14 to obtain 8 sets of 32 parallel data bits. The logic die 30 then couples these 256 bits and 32 ECC or data bus inversion (“DBI”) bits to a “vault” of the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 through respective 35-bit sub-buses 38 a-o in two packets, each of which includes a serial stream of four sets of 32 parallel data bits and 3 ECC/DBI bits. However, other embodiments may use different numbers of lanes 40, 42 having different widths or different numbers of sub-buses 38 a-p having different widths, and they may couple data bits having different structures. The logic die may also serialize the four sets of 32 parallel data bits and 3 ECC/DBI bits coupled from each vault of the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 into a serial stream of 16 serial data bits coupled through each of 16 parallel bits of one of the upstream lanes 42 a-d of the bus 14. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the stacking of multiple DRAM dice results in a memory device having a very large capacity. Further, the use of a very wide bus connecting the DRAM dice allows data to be coupled to and from the DRAM dice with a very high bandwidth.

A logic die 30 according to an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 3 connected to the processor 12 and the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the 4 downstream lanes 40 a-d is connected to a respective link interface 50 a-d. Each link interface 50 a-d includes a deserializer 54 that converts each serial stream of 16 data bits on each of the 16-bit lanes 40 a-d to 256 parallel bits. Insofar as there are 4 link interfaces 50 a-d, the link interfaces can together output 1024 output parallel bits.

Each of the link interfaces 50 a-d applies its 256 parallel bits to a respective downstream target 60 a-d, which decodes the command and address portions of the received packet and buffers write data in the event a memory request is for a write operation. The downstream targets 60 a-d output their respective commands, addresses and possibly write data to a switch 62. The switch 62 contains 16 multiplexers 64 each of which direct the command, addresses and any write data from any of the downstream targets 60 a-d to its respective vault of the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26. Thus, each of the downstream targets 60 a-d can access any of the 16 vaults in the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26. The multiplexers 64 use the address in the received memory requests to determine if its respective vault is the target of a memory request. Each of the multiplexers 64 apply the memory request to a respective one of 16 vault controllers 70 a-p.

Each vault controller 70 a-p includes a respective memory controller 80, each of which includes a write buffer 82, a read buffer 84 and a command pipeline 86. The commands and addresses in memory requests received from the switch 62 are loaded into the command pipeline 86, which subsequently outputs the received commands and corresponding addresses. Any write data in the memory requests are stored in the write buffer 82. The read buffer 84 is used to store read data from the respective vault, as will be explained in greater detail below. Both the write data from the write buffer 82 and the commands and addresses from the command pipeline 86 of each of the vault controllers 70 a-p are applied to a memory interface 88. The memory interface 88 couples commands and addresses from the command pipelines 86 to the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 through a command/address bus 94. The memory interface 88 includes an error checking system and a data bus inversion system, such as those embodied in a transmitter 100 and receiver 104. Transmitter 100 receives 128 bits of write data from the respective write buffer 82, and generates 12 ECC/DBI bits from the write data. The transmitter 100 first uses some of the ECC/DBI bits to encode the write data using conventional data inversion techniques, some of which are discussed below. The transmitter 100 then serializes the write data and ECC/DBI bits into a stream of four sets of 32-bit write data and four sets of 3 parallel ECC/DBI bits. The serialized write data and ECC/DBI data are then coupled through a 35-bit data bus 92 to the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, write data are coupled to the write buffer 82 in synchronism with a 500 MHz clock so the data are stored in the write buffer 82 at 16 gigabytes (“GB”) per second. The write data are coupled from the write buffer 82 to the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 using a 2 GHz clock so the data are output from the write buffer 82 at 8 GB/s. Therefore, as long as more than half of the memory requests are not write operations to the same vault, the write buffers 82 will be able to couple the write data to the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 at least as fast as the data are coupled to the write buffer 82.

A receiver 104 is also included in the memory interface 88. Each vault of each of the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 includes a respective one of the transmitters 100 that transmit four sets of 32-bit read data and four sets of 3 parallel ECC/DBI bits to the receiver 104 through the 35-bit data bus 92. In the event a memory request is for a read operation, the command and address for the request are coupled to the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 in the same manner as a write request, as explained above. In response to a read request, four sets of 32-bit read data and four sets of 3 parallel ECC/DBI bits are output from the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 through the 35-bit data bus 92. The receiver 104 deserializes the four sets of 32-bit read data into 128 bits, and deserializes the four sets of 3 parallel ECC/DBI bits into 12 parallel ECC/DBI bits. The receiver 104 then uses some of the ECC/DBI bits to check and possibly correct the read data, and it uses some of the ECC/DBI bits to decode the DBI-encoded read data using conventional data inversion techniques. The 128 bits of corrected read data are then applied to a read buffer 84 in the memory controller 80. The read buffer 84 accumulates two packets of 128-bit read data before outputting the read data. A respective one of the receivers 104 is also included in each vault of each of the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 to receive the write data and ECC/DBI bits from the corresponding transmitter in the respective memory interface 88.

After 2 packets of 128-bit read data have been stored in the read buffer 84, the read buffer transmits 256 bits to the switch 62. The switch includes 4 output multiplexers 104 coupled to respective upstream masters 110 a-d. Each multiplexer 104 can couple 256 bits of parallel data from any one of the vault controllers 70 a-p to its respective upstream master 110 a-d. The upstream masters 110 a-d format the 256 bits of read data into packet data and couple the packet to respective upstream link interfaces 114 a-d. Each of the link interfaces 114 a-d include a respective serializer 120 that converts the incoming 256 bits to a serial stream of 16 bits on each bit of a respective one of the 16-bit upstream links 42 a-d.

An embodiment of a data and ECC/DBI packet that may be coupled between the logic die and the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 is shown in FIG. 4. As shown therein and as mentioned above, each packet includes 128 bits of data in 4 sets of 32 data bits. ECC/DBI bits are also coupled between the logic die and the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 in 4 sets of 3 bits. To provide single error correction, double error detection (“SECDED”) for 128 bits, 9 ECC bits are required. Therefore, 3 of the 12 ECC/DBI bits can be used to encode the 128 bits of data using conventional data bus inversion techniques, some of which will be described below. These 3 DBI bits can be coupled between the logic die 30 and the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 without adding any additional TSVs since 3 TSVs are required to couple 9 ECC bits insofar as 2 TSVs are not sufficient to couple 9 bits in a burst of 4.

An embodiment of the transmitter 100 and the receiver 104 is shown in FIG. 5. The transmitter 100 includes a conventional SECDED ECC generator 150 that receives the 128 bits of write data from its respective write buffer 82, and generates 9 ECC bits from the write data. The transmitter 100 also includes a DBI generator 154 that receives the 128 bits of write data and generates 3 DBI bits using a conventional data bus inversion algorithm. The 128 bits of write data and the 3 DBI bits are applied to a conventional DBI encoder 160 that performs a DBI operation on subsets of the 128 bits of write data. As is well-known in the art, data bus inversion requires that each bit of data be either inverted or not inverted depending upon the state of the DBI bit. As explained in greater detail below, doing so can be very useful because it can reduce the number of logic level transitions that occur from one bit to the next. For example, if more that half of the 32 data bits transmitted to the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 transition from one set of 32 bits to the next, the number of transitions in the second set of 32 data bits can be reduced to less than half by inverting all of the bits in the second set. Thus, any bit, such as bit 2, which was logic “1” in the first set will remain at logic “1” in the second set even though the data bit 2 was really logic “0” in the second set. The DBI bit for the first set would be logic “0” to signify that the data was not inverted, but the DBI bit for the second set would be logic “1” to signify that the receiver should invert all of the data in the second set.

The 128 bits of DBI encoded write data are applied to a parallel-to-serial converter 164, which serializes the 128 bits into four sets of 32 bits. Similarly, the 9 ECC bits and up to 3 DBI bits are applied to a parallel-to-serial converter 168, which serializes the 12 bits into four sets of 3 bits. The resulting 35 bits are applied to the 35-bit data bus 92 (FIG. 4) as explained above. The 35-bit data bus is implemented using 35 TSVs.

The 35 bits transmitted through the data bus 92 are applied to the receiver 104. The 32 data bits in each set of the 35 are applied to a serial-to-parallel converter 170, which deserializes the 4 sets of 32 bits into 128 data bits. Similarly, the 4 sets of 3 ECC/DBI bits are applied to a serial-to-parallel converter 174, which deserializes the 4 sets of 3 bits into 9 ECC bits and up to 3 DBI bits. The DBI bits are applied to a conventional DBI decoder 176 that either inverts or does not invert subsets of the 128 bits of data depending upon the state of the respective DBI bits. The decoded data bits are then applied to a conventional SECDED ECC circuit 178, which uses the 9 ECC bits to check the 128 bits of read data. The 9 ECC bits can detect up to 2 single bit errors in the 128 bits, and they can correct a single bit error. The checked and corrected data are then output from the receiver.

Although the transmitter 100 and receiver 104 shown in FIG. 5 couple 128 data bits, and they use 9 ECC bits and up to 3 DBI bits, other embodiments use different numbers of data bits, ECC bits and DBI bits. The common principle of all of these embodiments is that an unused portion of the interconnects (e.g., the TSVs) needed to couple the required number of ECC bits are used for DBI data bits. As a result, data bus inversion techniques can be used without any penalty of increasing the number of TSVs.

It would require 4 DBI bits to separately encode each of the 32-bit sets of data coupled through the data bus 92, and there are only 3 DBI bits available. A variety of techniques can be used to address this issue. First, the 128 bits of data can be encoded in two sets of 64-bits, and a respective DBI bit would be used to encode each set. As a result, only 2 DBI bits would be used. Alternatively, only 3 sets of 32-bits, such as the last 3 sets, could be encoded using respective DBI bits. Other techniques may also be used.

The DBI encoder 154 and the DBI decoder 176 may operate according to any of a variety of conventional DBI algorithms. Using a minimum transition algorithm, the DBI encoder 154 analyzes each of the 32-bit subsets in the 128 bits of data to determine if the number of transitions from one set to the next would be reduced by inverting the bits in the next set. A minimum transition algorithm can be useful for reducing switching noise, and reducing the number of transitions can also reduce power consumption. The DBI encoder 154 can also use a minimum Os algorithm. Using this algorithm, the DBI encoder 154 analyzes each of the 64-bit subsets in the 128 bits of data to determine if the number of logic “0” level in a transmission would be reduced by inverting the bits in each set of data bits. As is known in the art, many receivers consume more power when they receive a logic “0” input signal. As a result, the use of a minimum 0s algorithm can reduce the power consumed by the memory system 10. Other known or hereinafter developed DBI algorithms can also be used.

Although the data and ECC/DBI bits are applied to a receiver containing a DBI receiver 104 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the use of a DBI receiver is not required. In other embodiments, the DBI bits are simply stored in and read from the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 along with the data and ECC bits. If so, 10 ECC bits would be required to perform SECDED ECC on the 128 bits plus DBI bits so only 2 bits would be available for DBI bits. The 128 data bits may then be DBI encoded in two sets using the 2 respective DBI bits. Even though the data would not be stored in the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26 in its correct form, it would be corrected by the receiver 104 in the memory interface 88 when the data was read from the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the DBI bits are used to encode and decode the data and ECC bits, and the ECC bits are simply stored in the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26. In still another embodiment, the DBI bits are simply stored in the DRAM dice 20, 22, 24, 26, but the ECC bits are used to check and correct data written to the array.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, although the embodiments of the invention are explained in the context of stacked DRAM dice, it will be understood that the stacked die may be other types of memory device die, such as flash memory device die. Also, although the embodiments of the invention have been explained with reference to using DBI encoding, other embodiments use other types of data encoding/decoding using data encoding bits other than DBI bits. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims. 

1. A memory system, comprising: a plurality of stacked memory device dice containing a plurality of memory cells; and a logic die coupled to the memory device dice through a plurality of through silicon vias, the logic die being operable to transfer data to and from the memory device dice in a packet each of which includes a serial burst of a plurality of parallel data bits, the logic die further comprising: an error checking system configured to generate a plurality of error checking bits from the write data transferred from the logic die to the memory device dice for storage in the memory device dice, the error checking system being configured to transfer the generated error checking bits from the logic die to the memory device dice in a serial burst of parallel error checking bits using respective through silicon vias, the error checking system further being structured to receive the read data transferred from the memory device dice to the logic die and corresponding error checking bits transferred from the memory device dice in a serial burst of parallel error checking bits using the respective through silicon vias, the error checking system further being configured to use the received error checking bits to determine if the corresponding read data contains at least one erroneous read data bit; and a data encoding system receiving the write data and being configured to use an encoding algorithm to encode the write data before the write data are transferred to the memory device dice and to transfer to the memory device dice at least one data encoding bit indicative of the encoding of the write data, the at least one data encoding bit being transferred to the memory device dice using at least one of the through silicon vias through which the error checking bits are transferred. 